Rich Archbold: Millikan's Best Buddies change lives

Lindsay Kerr and Samantha Mosier are laughing out loud, hanging out at Millikan High School where they are both juniors. They look like any other teenagers enjoying each other's company.

But they're not just any other teenagers. They are members of "Best Buddies," a remarkable organization that brings together average young people with peers who have various developmental disabilities.

Since birth, Lindsay has suffered from cerebral palsy, a condition that affects her left leg and arm, hydrocephalus (a buildup of fluid inside the skull that leads to swelling of the brain) and visual impairment that's getting worse. She's blind in one eye.

But Lindsay is a fighter, and that's one of the reasons Samantha agreed to be her buddy.

"I'm so glad I met Lindsay," Samantha said. "She's so smart and hardworking. I try to help her as much as I can."

The feeling is mutual for Lindsay. "Sam is so helpful. She understands what I'm going through. I don't have as many friends. She helps me make friends," Lindsay said.

Best Buddies was started in 1989 by Anthony Shriver, son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver - who founded the Special Olympics in 1968. The intent was to create opportunities for friendships and jobs for young people with developmental disabilities.

Dina Weinberg, a special education teacher and Best Buddies adviser at Millikan, said more than 100 students are connected to the Best Buddies program - and the number keeps growing.

"These students are amazing in the time they make available for each other," Weinberg said. "There has to be a commitment by each buddy to help each other. Samantha is into everything. She's in the Quest gifted program, the marching band, the AP German Club, the chamber orchestra. She is an amazing, wonderful human being. And Lindsay is really special, too."

Samantha, like a proud friend that she is, pointed out that Lindsay sings in the Braille Institute's Johnny Mercer Children's Choir.

"Next week we'll be singing at the Aquarium in Long Beach," Lindsay chimed in. "We sing lots of children's songs like `Under the Sea."'

Asked how she finds time to be a buddy, Samantha said, "It's like a stone in the water that makes ripples. We're all real busy, but you find time to be a friend. It's no different than hanging out with anyone else."

There's a sign in the Best Buddies meeting room that reads: "Take the Pledge. End the R Word Today and Every Day."

The R, of course, stands for retarded.

Do students use the R word?

"I've had to talk to some of my friends when they say that word," Samantha said. "I tell them it's not funny, and I don't laugh.'

Lindsay said some kids use the R word with her. Asked how she felt about that, she said, "That's what they are, not me."

Students in the Best Buddies program seem wise beyond their years.

Jeff Tinko, Best Buddies president at Millikan and a senior who will be attending Cal State Long Beach, said his experience with the program has been "very rewarding. Not all of the students here are mean, but there are those who stare, who laugh, who push people out of the way. It's our job to educate them."

Jeff's buddy, Devon, has had brain surgery for seizures. "He was real nervous at the beginning, but he has gotten a lot better," Jeff said.

Greg Garcia, a sophomore and Best Buddies President-elect, said that without the program, "a lot of students would be considered outcasts. It's really sad. People are afraid of what they don't understand. But it's real cool to help others, to make a difference."

Garcia's buddy, Angelo, has autism and won two gold medals in swimming in the Special Olympics in Greece last year.

This column on Best Buddies came about because of a call I got from a reader, Cheri Foreman, who has a 5-year-old son, Reid, with Down syndrome. She also was the event chair for the second annual Best Buddies Friendship Walk held Saturday.

"I am rolling my sleeves up and pitching in now because I want Best Buddies chapters at middle schools, high schools and colleges to be just as strong as they are now when my son gets there," she said. "I hope when my son gets to that age that there will be such an atmosphere of inclusion, that he won't have to worry about some of the social isolation that could potentially follow him."

Looking around the room at Samantha Mosier, Jeff Tinko, Greg Garcia and Lindsay Mosier, Foreman said, almost with tears in her eyes, "These students are beautiful for what they do."

She then reached out and touched the arm of Greg Garcia: "I want Best Buddies to continue so this kind of guy will be here for my son, Reid."

If you want to know more about the Best Buddies programs in Southern California, call 714-900-1666. For more information about the Millikan program, call Dina Weinberg at 562-884-6727.